Perseus cluster (image by Ken Crawford, Rancho Del Sol Observatory) I do my best to court coincidence, but would not consider myself superstitious. Like anyone, I just find it reassuring when cosmic events complement the task at hand and try to pay attention to patterns as they emerge. ??????? ???????? I did not plan to […]
Tag Archives: woodworking
Craftitude
Just as clothes suggest a particular attitude or posture, tools lend themselves to a certain stance and reinforce a way of moving. The appropriate outfit complements the set of tools required for a sequence of moves, and ‘craft’ becomes a performance tailored to the task at hand. ????? ?????? ??? ???? I find myself creating […]
Apricots and Ponderosa
Looking south over the gorge towards the Seven Devils and the Wallowa Mountains from the tinder dry, high prairie of northeastern Oregon, you’d hardly expect to find apricots and blackberries growing along the banks of the Imnaha as you descend over rocky terrain, past tall stands of Ponderosa pine. Dense pine forests still rim the […]
Giant Eucalyptus
Taking a break under a giant bluegum eucalyptus on Whitaker Bluff The eucalyptus was planted extensively throughout California by Australians during the Gold Rush for use as timber. They mistakenly thought the wood to be well suited for railroad ties, but the trees took differently to the soil and tended to grow in spirals, the […]
Geography of Craft
map of the bioregions relating to the Delaware River and its tributaries, including portions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Virginia and Maryland (from The Encyclopedia of Earth) As a woodworker, I make a habit of studying the bioregion for site specific projects to get a sense of scale and context, with an eye […]
Elm
My favorite woods have three letter names- elm, oak, ash and fir. These names have been so repeated over the centuries, they have been polished smooth like river stones- extra syllables or letters are superfluous to their meaning. The trees themselves are thought to have magical origins, with deep roots in the collective consciousness, and […]
Shopmade Tamales
I love having a kitchen in my woodshop, especially during the rainy season when I often have something bubbling away on the stove while I make things in the shop. As I was making my prototype Windsor Longboard over the weekend, I prepared tamales for about twenty people coming over for our monthly ‘dinner club’. […]